Greek Referendum Fails to Pass After People Vote ‘No’

With over two-thirds of the votes counted, Greek citizens voted “no” on Sunday to the referendum that was set to allow the European Union (EU) to help save the nation’s growing debt. Early in the day three unofficial opinion polls indicated that the Greek referendum was trailing by a small margin, but the confirmed numbers are 39 percent for “yes” and 61 percent in support of “no.”

After the polls closed people were seen in Syntagma Square in the center of Athens waving flags in support of the “no” vote. Throughout the day young Greek citizens took to Twitter and Snapchat to voice their beliefs and to show video and pictures from this nation-changing event.

Dimitris Papadimoulis, Greece’s European member of parliament, stated the initial polling showed that the people of Greece want to stay as members of the EU, but, “not as a debt colony.” The failure of the Greek referendum now means the country will not accept the EU’s financial demands for more austerity in order to accept the loans.

According to reports, the Greek referendum was not popular among the nation’s youth. The votes for and against the referendum nearly go along age groups.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Paris for talks with France’s President Francois Hollande tomorrow nigh to speak about the encroaching crisis that Greece will face. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras now has to persuade the eurozone to not kick out Greece. Vangelis Meimarkis, a senior opposition leader, stated if nothing is done within the next 48 hours to combat the looming financial crisis, “then we are being led to a tragedy.”